My graduate training experience at Novartis Malaysia

Upon graduating from the University of Nottingham in Biomedical Sciences, I spent some time abroad to explore the world and learn more about myself in a new environment. At the same time, I was pondering about my career plan upon my return from my travels.

After coming back to Malaysia, I developed an interest to work in a healthcare-related industry, preferably in the area of pharmaceuticals. At that time, I was lucky to come across the B.SMArT – Best Sales and Marketing Apprenticeship Training programme organised by IcoE Healthcare, the Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation and Novartis Corporation Malaysia. During the month long programme, I was exposed to the sales and marketing sectors of the pharmaceutical industry, which enabled me to acquire important skills needed in the industry such as communication skills, interpersonal skills, presentation abilities and teamwork.

Dr Then Sue-Mian from the Department of Biomedical Sciences attended Su Lim’s graduation from the B.SMArT program.

Miss Su Lim Yang receiving her prize for the best project during the B.SMArT program

The B.SMArt programme consists of several modules, which includes personal profiling, grooming, sales, marketing, industry insights, project presentation and field trips to various healthcare providers. This programme helped me make the transition from a fresh graduate to a working adult by giving me the opportunity to communicate with many leaders within the organisations and the industry. Besides that, I have also discovered more about the pharmaceutical industry, which is highly regulated whereby its sales and marketing operations are carried out differently compared to other industries.

During my time at the programme, my team worked on a project titled “Winning for Patients”, where I had the chance to interact, collaborate and learn from my teammates that come from different academic backgrounds. We were also given the opportunity to pitch our project ideas to a panel of judges from the industry. In addition, I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to have a one-to-one discussion with the Country President and the Franchise Head of Novartis Corporation Malaysia, which landed me an interview opportunity with the company. Hence, upon graduating from the programme, I was offered a position as a Product Specialist in Novartis Corporation Malaysia and I believe that this would be an exciting journey ahead for me.